Chapter 354: Voldemort’s Response

The Auror raid not only cost Fudge his supporters but also severely weakened Voldemort.

Although the Death Eaters were fearsome, their terror stemmed from their ability to act collectively and fearlessly.

When Death Eaters donned their hoods and masks, they could create chaos in the wizarding world, while Aurors often hesitated when facing them.

Aurors had to consider civilian safety, avoid revealing magic in front of Muggles, and minimize property damage during their operations.

In contrast, Death Eaters cared nothing for these concerns.

They could wreak havoc and destruction without considering secrecy, and even use Muggle and wizard civilians as hostages to threaten the Ministry.

However, last night, their advantage was nullified.

Before Voldemort had truly seized control of the wizarding world, all Death Eaters were still required to conceal their identities.

Even with Fudge's incompetence as Minister of Magic, Death Eaters could not openly reveal themselves.

As long as they were only suspected of being Death Eaters and not caught in the act, there was still room for maneuver as long as Fudge was in office.

Fudge, fearing the Dark Lord, refused to acknowledge Voldemort's return.

Unless there was undeniable proof, he would not admit the identities of the Death Eaters.

Yet, last night, this very situation became a shackle for the Death Eaters.

With family members around, the Death Eaters were reluctant to reveal their identities.

They knew they could not defeat the Aurors, and if they exposed themselves, their families would be accused of harboring Death Eaters and would undoubtedly be considered allies.

Bones would then have an excuse to imprison them in Azkaban.

Unfortunately, they had underestimated Bones and the Aurors' resolve.

Unlike before, the Aurors were no longer hesitant.

This time, they acted without restraint, capturing several families in one fell swoop.

The Death Eaters suffered a severe blow.

These families were the main supporters of Voldemort.

Like all terrorists or insurgents, Voldemort's and the Death Eaters' actions needed substantial manpower and resources.

The pure-blood families were Voldemort's main supporters.

These families not only provided Voldemort with numerous followers but also supplied him with vast amounts of wealth accumulated over generations. 

Although they once thrived, these pure-blood families were in gradual decline.

Their magical monopoly and natural advantages had become less effective against the expanding population of mixed-blood wizards and the ongoing advancements in various magical institutions.

In the past century, these families had lost their power at an alarming rate.

Grindelwald in his time and Voldemort now were the hopes for these pure-blood families to rise again.

Therefore, they heavily invested in these Dark Lords.

They not only provided wealth and manpower but also used their intricate networks in the wizarding world to offer intelligence, power advantages, and connections.

Before the Aurors decided to act, Voldemort had been using these families' help to secretly contact former followers and potential Death Eaters, increasing his own power.

Simultaneously, Voldemort sent agents to reach out to centaurs, giants, and even the Dementors of Azkaban.

When Voldemort believed he had amassed enough power, he would formally confront the Ministry of Magic.

On one front, he would use constant terror attacks to divert the Ministry's resources and keep them preoccupied.

On another front, after revealing weaknesses in the Ministry, he would use the Imperius Curse to infiltrate the Ministry, gradually spreading his influence and then aiming to dominate the entire British wizarding community.

This was Voldemort's strategy after suffering a major setback fourteen years ago.

Even a Dark Lord, after experiencing a failure, could recognize past mistakes.

Prideful as he was, it was rare for him to formulate such a long-term and well-prepared plan.

Originally, he had planned to spend a year building his strength.

However, the Auror raid last night disrupted his plans.

Now, most of his forces were captured.

Not only had his right-hand men, led by Lucius Malfoy, been almost entirely imprisoned in Azkaban, but their family members had also been taken.

This meant Voldemort lost his backup forces, most of his intelligence sources, sources of wealth, and many inside agents in the Ministry...

In essence, the Death Eater organization was severely crippled.

Now, Voldemort could only rely on a few small families, some scattered wizards including Peter Pettigrew, and the werewolves led by Fenrir Greyback.

Moreover, with the primary force—the pure-blood families—almost entirely captured, and with intelligence sources and social connections greatly diminished.

Voldemort found it difficult to secretly recruit wizards and grow his power.

At this moment, enraged Voldemort could no longer remain low-key and silent.

He decided to go all out, abandoning his original plan, and act immediately.

The immediate priority was, of course, to rescue his allies from Azkaban.

To this end, he even made significant sacrifices, contrary to his longstanding beliefs.

To rapidly gather forces, he accelerated the recruitment of giants and centaurs and sacrificed many benefits to enlist them as soon as possible.

As a pure-blood supremacist, Voldemort had always viewed friendly and yielding behavior toward magical creatures as a disgrace.

Yet now, he had to do what he once considered shameful.

In his humiliation, Voldemort directed his hatred toward Bones.

She was the one who had inflicted such an insult upon him.

He vowed that once he took control of the Ministry, he would torture and kill Bones' entire family, just as he had done to her brother's family.

But for now, he could not do that. He needed to do something to divert the wizards' attention.

However, the current Death Eaters were not what they used to be.

Diverting the Ministry's attention and shifting their forces with only the current Death Eaters might result in a complete loss.

Fortunately, the malevolent Voldemort still had a plan.

With insufficient strength to carry out terror attacks, what better way to distract the Ministry and deploy more resources than to target Muggles?

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